1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electronic microprogrammable processors, and more specifically to a control section of such a microprocessor.
2. Prior Art
As microprocessors find more and more applications, situations have developed where two microprocessors are needed to perform a single function. However, it is often not economically feasible to provide two complete and separate microprocessors working in tandem to complete a single task.
An example of such an application where it has been necessary to provide two microprocessors to perform one overall function is in the application of microprocessors to disc controllers operating at high data rates. In this situation one microprocessor has been needed to manage the data flow on the disc side of the disc buffer, while a separate microprocessor has been needed to manage the data flow on the computer side of the disc buffer. However, a single microprocessor often would have the necessary speed to handle both tasks if only the microprocessor could concurrently execute two independent programs, each with subroutine capability. A beneficial result of such a microprocessor would be the elimination of the needless duplication of common components caused by having two complete and separate microprocessors. Thus, in this specific example of the necessity for more than one microprocessor, as well as a variety of other applications, it is clear that there has been required a single microprocessor which is capable of simultaneously handling two realtime tasks.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved control section for a microprocessor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved control section for a microprocessor which allows the microprocessor to simultaneously handle two realtime tasks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control section for a microprocessor which allows a microprocessor to simultaneously handle two realtime tasks with high efficiency and minimum latency.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a control section for a microprocessor which has a conditional execute capability.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved control section for a microprocessor which has an interrupt capability so as to permit rapid sensing of external conditions so as to control the microprocessor.